United States Live Blog

It's not just the markets that have been responding to Hollande's victory. World leaders from around the globe have been sending messages of support to the president-elect, with the US and Germany inviting him for talks in the near future.

United States: Barack Obama, the US president, telephoned Hollande to offer his congratulations and to invite the president-elect to the White House for talks this month. Obama "indicated that he looks forward to working closely with Mr Hollande and his government on a range of shared economic and security challenges," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Germany: Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, may have earlier indicated her preference for Sarkozy in the French presidential race, but on Sunday she telephoned President-elect Hollande, congratulating him on his win and inviting him for early talks in Berlin. 

She said she would welcome him "with open arms", but warned that the Europen Union's fiscal pact, which Hollande has criticised, was "not negotiable".

United Kingdom: David Cameron, the British prime minister, who had backed Sarkozy at the beginning of the election campaign, has also vowed to work with Hollande to strengthen the Franco-British relationship, said a spokesman.

Spain: Mariano Rajoy, Spain's conservative prime minister whose spending cuts have sparked street protests in a country mired in recession and suffering from a 24 per cent jobless rate, also offered his congratulations. Rajoy was due to speak to Hollande by telephone on Monday.

Italy: Mario Monto, the Italian prime minister, congratulatied Hollande on his win, adding that he hoped for close co-operation aimed "at an increasingly efficient and growth-oriented union."

Belgium: Elio Di Rupo, the Belgian prime minister, who was the only EU leader to visit France during the campaign to support Hollande, has backed the new French president's economic plans. European budget discipline had to go hand-in-hand with an ambitious growth strategy, he said, as he offered his congratulations.

European Commission: Jose Manuel Barroso, the chief of the EC, says that he shares Hollande's goal for jumpstarting the European economy. "We clearly have a common objective: relaunching the European economy to generate durable growth," said Barroso. "We must now transform these aspirations into concrete actions."

China: Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, has sent his congratulations to Hollande. China is ready to work with the new French leader "to deal with bilateral relations from a strategic and long term perspective", said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei at a briefing. 

"China believes that maintaining a positive momentum of the healthy and steady development of China-France relations not only serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples, but also world peace, stability and development."

Israel: Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has congratulated Hollande on winning the vote, and said that relations between the two countries shall remain friendly.  "I look forward to a meeting with him to continue this important relationship - important bilaterally and internationally," he said.

Brazil: "I want to transmit to him my most effusive greetings," Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian president, said in a statement posted on the official presidential blog. "France and Brazil are united by ambitious bilateral projects... I'm sure that we will continue this cooperation in the next years."

Brazil wants to purchase 38 fighter jets in a contract valued at between $4 billion and $7 billion, and French firm Dassault Aviation's Rafale jet is in the running.

Venezuela: Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, congratulated Hollande on his "clear victory" over Nicolas Sarkozy. 

Canada: Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, offered his congratulations in a telephone call to the president-elect.

United Arab Emirates: Sheikh Khalif bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, sent a telegram wishing Hollande "success" and "further progress in relations" between the two countries, the WAM news agency reported.

Bahrain: King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa  also sent a telegram wishing him "success", and hailed the "deep and strong ties between the two countries".

Qatar: King Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani also congratulated Hollande in a brief message carried by state news agency QNA.

Iran: Iran says that it hopes that "a new era" in ties between France and Iran will open up after the election of Francois Hollande as French president.

"Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat in the French presidential elections shows the defeat of his wrong polices and we hope that the polices of Francois Hollande will correct past wrong approaches," Ramim Mehmanparast, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said.

Bahrain's foreign ministry insists that it respects citizens' right to hold peaceful protests, and that security forces only intervene when demonstrations become violent.

"The kingdom of Bahrain authorises the peaceful expression of opinion within the constitution and the law," it said in a statement issued late on Thursday in response to concerns expressed by the US State Department.

"The security forces exercise maximum restraint even though they are regularly the target of acts of violence," the ministry said. "But these forces reserve the right to take necessary measures in the face of any escalation in violence."

On Wednesday, the State Department had urged Bahrain to exercise restraint and allow peaceful protests. It also condemned the unrest that broke out in the Gulf island state over the last two weeks, as anti-government protesters launched a renewed campaign of demonstrations demanding increased rights.

"We are deeply concerned about the increase in violence in Bahrain," Victoria Nuland, a spokesperson for the State Department, said. 

"We condemn the use of violence in all its forms - whether against peaceful demonstrators or police and government institutions - and urge all parties to reject such actions," Nuland said in a statement.

"We call on the government of Bahrain to permit peaceful protest and to exercise maximum restraint in maintaining order, just as we call on all those demonstrating to do so peacefully," she said. 

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in a telephone call Wednesday that "more resolute" UN Security Council action was need on Syria, the White House said.

"The president and chancellor shared the concern that the Assad government was not complying with the terms of the agreement negotiated by Kofi Annan and continued to engage in unacceptable brutality against its own people," a White House statement said.